RB Hunter no faster at Oklahoma State pro day

By Jeff Latzke, AP College Football Writer

STILLWATER, Okla.  A return to his home turf didn't make Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter any faster.

Hunter had hoped to improve his draft stock at the school's pro day Wednesday with a quicker time in the 40-yard dash than the 4.53 seconds he recorded at the NFL combine.

Instead, he ended up in the 4.5-second range again while running with and against the wind on the Boone Pickens Stadium turf. He seemed disappointed, but an Atlanta Falcons scout told him it was a good performance considering the chilly, windy conditions.

"I did pretty good overall at the combine, but I wanted to knock the 40 time down because I knew I could do better than what I did, so I came here and ran it," Hunter said. "I feel like I ran pretty well."

Hunter also went through lengthy position drills for scouts, running toss sweeps, catching passes out of the backfield and even fielding kicks from Groza Award winner Dan Bailey.

Hunter, an All-American who ran for 1,548 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, said he wanted "just to show them in person my speed, my explosiveness, how I can catch the ball and field punts and catch kick returns and just do everything.

"I'm able to not just run the ball," Hunter said. "I'm just out there showing them everything that I can do."

Hunter was one of 15 players who worked out for 22 NFL scouts. Defensive tackle Shane Jarka provided one of the highlights with a personal-best 34 lifts of a 225-pound weight on the bench press.

"I hope that just gets a few looks, kind of gets me on the radar and then hopefully later on once my knee gets 100 percent — which I'm really close to being 100 percent — then I can go out there and get a better look," said Jarka, who didn't participate in the other drills.

Receiver Bo Bowling had the best vertical jump at 35 1/2 inches while safety Lucien Antoine, who finished his Oklahoma State career in 2009, had the best broad jump at 10 feet.

Despite canceling his second attempt at his 40-yard dash because of a strained hamstring, linebacker Orie Lemon filled in as the quarterback when Hunter and Bowling did their passing drills.

Bailey finished the session with a series of kicks, the last one good from 55 yards out. He was recognized as college football's top kicker last season after making 27 of 31 field goal tries, including three from at least 50 yards out.

"Consistency is probably the main thing. You can do it all year, but you've got to come out here and perform, too," Bailey said. "Kickoffs are important, too. Anybody can kick field goals, so you've got to be able to kick off as well."

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